Sergius pilots Dominic Savio's win

Dominic Savio's Sergius Barretto dribbles past a Billibaong player during the Utpal Sanghvi knockout tie at Azad Maidan yesterday. Pic/Suresh Karkera

Striker Sergius Barretto's goal helped Dominic Savio (Andheri) sneak past Billbong International (Malad) by a narrow 1-0 margin in a first round match of the Mumbai Schools Sports Association-organised boys' U-14 Div II Utpal Sanghvi inter-school knockout football tournament at Azad Maidan yesterday.

Dominic Savio, who were better organised, did the bulk of the attacking, but they failed to convert their chances. On the other hand, Billbong managed to make a few threatening runs towards the rival goal, but they found it difficult to break down Dominic Savio defence.

After a barren first half, Dominic Savio found success when Sergius capitalised on a slip by 'keeper Arul Vaishnay, who in an attempt to collect Andrew Koundar's shot, allowed the ball to pop out of his hands. Sergius swooped on the ball and tapped home from close in the sixth minute of second half.

Dominic Savio will meet NSS Hill Spring (Tardeo) in the second round. Hill Spring rode on Arya Kothari's hat-trick to tame JJ Academy (Mulund) 5-0 after leading 4-0 at the break. Kian Choksi and Avya Kothari netted the other two goals to complete Hill Spring's win.

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